Using a variac for current control

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Terry Blake by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <tb3-at-att-dot-net>

Hi all,

I am working on a power control panel for a pole pig (I'd like get one
someday), and would like to have a knob to control current.  I have this
cool book from J.H. Couture (Tesla Coil Construction Guide) that provides
the plans for a control panel.  The panel is made up of two variacs; one for
voltage and another (in series with the load) for current.

My question is; do I have to make a cut in the toroid of the current variac?
Mr Couture makes no mention of this operation.  Is it necessary?

Anything else I should know about this sort of thing before I screw up a big
variac?

Confused as usual.

Terry Blake
Coiling in Chicago.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2002 7:11 PM
Subject: Re: defective caps?!?!


> Original poster: "J. B. Weazle McCreath by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <weazle-at-hurontel.on.ca>
>
>
> At 11:54 AM 09/09/02 -0600, you wrote:
>
> >Original poster: "Steven Ward by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <srward16-at-hotmail-dot-com>
> >
> >I now have a very sick feeling in my stomach,
> >
> >I may have bought about $120 worth of bad caps!  While my GE 42l series
> >3000v caps have lasted for a looooong time, the 42l 1200v caps may not!
> >I may send one to Terry so he can check it out.  Heres the story.
> >
> >I just finished up a medium coil powered by a 12/60 and a static gap.
> >My MMC is 20 in series of 1200v .33uf caps for .0165uf -at- 24kv.
> >
>
> <big snip>
>
> >
> >I just upgraded to 2 strings of caps on my big coil, but never ran it
yet.
>  >Each string is 24 X .68uf -at- 1200v for a 0.0283uf -at- 28.8kv.  By the way,
> >is a .0566uf cap too big for a 15/120 system with a blower gap?
> >
>
> <snip>
>
> >I like the idea of that huge cap for some huge current handling, unless
> >these are "crap caps" and they will all fail soon anyway.
> >
> >
> >Steve Ward.
> >
>
> Hello Steve & Coilers,
>
> Maybe I'm all wet, but it seems to me that you're asking a lot of just
> one or two strings of caps in your MMC.  It's generally not the volts
> that kill a cap, but rather the amps and you'll sure have plenty with
> using only one or two strings.  I have six strings of 16 caps each in
> my MMC and I worry about it!
>
> 73, Weazle, VE3EAR/VE3WZL
> G-1#1214
>
> Listening: 147.030+ and 442.075+
> E-mail:    weazle-at-hurontel.on.ca
>            or ve3ear-at-rac.ca
> Web site:  http://www.hurontel.on.ca/~weazle
>
>
>